This week we will focus on 3 types of disabilities that you often see in public schools (Specific Learning Disability, Autism and Communication). Spend a few hours researching and share out something new that you learned and how this new information may impact your teaching and/or learning. Consider "Joe" is this discussion and share out ideas that could help. Your initial response should be 300-500 words with at least 2 responses to other participants.

Specific Learning Disability

​What is and isn’t a learning disability (LD)? LD is more than a difference or difficulty with learning — it is a neurological disorder that affects the brain's ability to receive, process, store, and respond to information (click on image to get to webpage).​

Communication

A communication disability disability is an impairment in the ability to receive, send, process, and comprehend concepts or verbal, nonverbal and graphic symbol systems. A communication disorder may be evident in the processes of hearing, language, and/or speech. A communication disorder may range in severity from mild to profound.

After taking a closer look at the section on communication disorders, one thing I learned was how varied the different disorders in the category can be. It was very interesting to see that there are both receptive and expressive language disorders and that articulation, fluency, voice, and language areas are the most prominent, but do not even include everything that can be considered a language disorder. I found the video “Stuttering: By Kids for Kids” to be especially of interest because I think there is inherent value in children learning from each other, especially when the learning they are doing is about their peers themselves. This sort of education where students teach their peers about their disability (or any other difference) enriches the school experience for everyone because the children without the given disability come to understand their peer’s perspective more and it gives the child sharing about their disability the chance to take ownership, feel proud, and to be better understood.

Now that I am going to be in a 5th grade classroom, a place where children are very aware of their differences from their peers, I hope that giving students who want to share about their disabilities openly the opportunity to do so in a productive way will be something that allows my classroom community to become an more supportive, compassionate, and accepting community. I also hope that now that I know more about communication disorders I will be better able to support any of my students that may have one, especially if for any reason they have gone undiagnosed.

The reason I chose to look at communication disorders this week specifically is because I thought I would find something that connected with Joe. Based on what we have discussed in class and what I have learned from reading this week, it seems that Joe has a disorder in the area of articulation. After watching the video of Justin playing games with his speech therapist, I feel strongly that speech therapy, made up of fun games like Justin got to play, would be a productive option for Joe. We have learned that Joe understands and likes to make jokes and have fun, so fun games would be a great way to engage him in improving his speech. In addition, this would hopefully help strengthen his mouth and tongue muscles for eating.

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Elizabeth Mossop

7/21/2016 04:46:04 pm

I completely agree with you that communication disorder has a wide range of different disorders in it. I also found it interesting that there are both receptive and expressive language disorders, I never knew that! Reading about communication disorder, makes you relate it back to Joe and how we have been observing his language and fluency in different environments. I like your idea of using speech therapy with Joe. From the videos, we can tell he enjoys being involved with games and having that 1:1 with his teacher. Joe also learns well when he is hands on and having it visually in front of him while completing a task.

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Gabrielle D'Avolio

7/23/2016 08:01:09 am

I really like what you said about kids learning from their peers and learning about disabilities. Having an inclusion based classroom is really important because it can really give a new perspective and understanding to other students and even teachers. That can really show others how students may learn differently but also how they can learn the same. I also think that it is really important to learn young and can help one to become more understanding and open minded. It can help when you are older working with a variety of people who are different from each other and work in different ways.

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Colleen Talbot

8/3/2016 06:52:10 am

I agree that students really benefit from learning from one another, and when they talk about their learning disabilities and teach their peers about the ways they learn best it promotes a sense of compassion that we can not always easily teach them to feel. I am really interested in reviewing the games Justin played with his speech therapist as I feel it would strengthen my practice also if I encounter students who may benefit from these strategies.

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Gabrielle D'Avolio

7/22/2016 02:53:34 pm

It is important to understand the meaning of a learning disability, what it includes, and how to properly identify one. I feel as though there are many educators or other people who are quick to see what a student cannot do and conclude that the child has a disability and needs modifications or an IEP. But in fact, there are many aspects that go into making an IEP and deciding if the student has a disability or not. I have learned from this class and from watching Joe that it takes months to gather enough information to properly make an IEP. I now see why this is because from observing Joe after starting school for the first time in kindergarten in the middle of the school year, that we can not assume he has any type of learning disability at all. He may behind developmentally because of limited exposure to socializing, using common toys, and academics. Of course he may have a disability, but it takes time to decide that properly. This has definitely impacted me as a future teacher and has increased my knowledge of disabilities.

I found the information about social communication disorders really interesting because my previous studies of communication disorders prompted me to want to be a special education teacher. It is very interesting when diagnosing SCD that the child cannot also have ASD. Since they are both communication based, I was surprised. I also did not realize that ASD needed to display obsessive and repetitive actions. In Joe’s case where it is unconcluded if he has any type of disability, I think that SCD or ASD could be part of what he may have, if anything. In the videos he is always tapping. He has trouble communicating with peers and social interactions and it is unclear why. I also learned children with SCD have trouble with reading comprehension, which Joe scored low on.

I also found from this research that dyslexia is a type of learning disability and are not the same. It is often that these terms are used without learning the meaning and are used in the wrong context. It is important to know the meaning and how to properly use the words to not offend anyone. A learning disability could consist of trouble in the area of reading, writing, listening, speaking, reasoning, and math. I think it is possible that Joe could have a learning disability. He has been improving in reading and speaking more clearly, but comprehension is hard for him. I have not seen him do math or reasoning yet, so I think it is too early to tell if he is delayed developmentally because of his lack of exposure or if he has a disability that keeps carrying on.

All of this information is very important to me as a future educator. Watching the videos of Joe and learning about disabilities and disorders are things that I am going to be facing when I begin my teaching this fall.

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Meredith Chen

7/24/2016 06:44:37 am

I was unaware of what the criteria was for SCD and ASD, so the repetitive behavior was also new for me. When I thought about Joe, I could understand how SCD could be fitting, but then thinking as you did about his tapping, I felt that that is certainly a repetitive behavior. We have yet to see a video where he has no been tapping. I like that you brought up his low comprehension, I didn't think of that, and I think that is another possible indicator that processing may be difficult. However as you said, this could also be a obstruction due to his very sheltered upbringing. Since he has very limited exposure to the world, his background knowledge and schema about most things (even train sets) have been affected, and that could transfer over to his ability to understand what he is reading.

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Becca Siegel

7/24/2016 03:39:28 pm

I had many of the same findings as you as researched this week, but really liked your clarification in regard to diagnosing an ASD or an SCD. I had never realized that and I am curious as to why they could not overlap in some situations. I wonder if this is something that may change as we learn more about these disabilities or if there is a concrete reason why someone cannot have them simultaneously.

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Elizabeth Mossop

7/22/2016 03:43:07 pm

I found this assignment a great opportunity to do research and understand Specific Learning Disabilities. The reason I chose to do research in this section is because this upcoming fall, I will be working with a variety of students and some of them might have a specific learning disabilities. It is important to have background knowledge on specific learning disabilities, especially in an integrated classroom. One thing that stuck out to me is in the “Identification of Students with Specific Learning Disabilities” (2007), stated that students that attend early intervention, helps reduce the impact of variety of learning difficulties (p.2). I found this interesting because what activities are done with these children that reduces specific learning disabilities and how can we help more children that do not attend an early intervention program during their first couple years of life. It is great to see that 2.9 million children in the United States are able to receive special education services and help them grow as a learner (p.1).

Reading about the variety of different disabilities, it makes me as a future educator, want to help children that are struggling in writing or be able to become a fluent speaker. The information I collected from the research, made a powerful point on becoming a teacher working with children with a learning disability. It is SO important to use certain strategies that fit well with their disability. Many of our future students are going to struggle in overcoming their academic achievements goals and the progress of completing a task, but that is why we are here to support them. I related this back to Joe because he struggles on completing a task, but he has a great supportive team that guides him through every task.

In the article, “Introduction to Learning Disabilities” (2007), really stretched how important it is to understand our student’s difficulties, before we take an approach on helping this student that work with their disability. I found this very important because we will be learning on taking different approaches with students and how to handle it with future students as well. I related this back to Joe and the team that worked with him. They worked with him in different environments and were able to see where his strengths and weaknesses are.

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Gabrielle D'Avolio

7/23/2016 07:49:11 am

I really like and agree with what you said about the importance of writing and fluency. I studied communication disorders which really helped me decide to become a teacher to stress this importance. I also agree with what you said about finding a strategy specific to each child. Especially students who may a learning disability it is important to make the appropriate accommodations and modifications for each student and stress that each student does not learn the same. I feel as though the teachers working with Joe are doing the right thing by not jumping to conclusions about any type of disability. Like you said really they are working to find his strengths and weaknesses and taking their time in this process.

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Meredith Chen

7/24/2016 06:57:34 am

The information from Identification of Students with Specific Learning Disabilities is very interesting, and emphasizes the importance of early intervention. I am interested in the types of strategies used to intervene with specific disabilities. Knowing how much of an impact special education can provide, it is wild to think of how students with disabilities were educated and treated in the past.

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Dana Moody

7/25/2016 09:39:15 am

I also really like and agree with what you have said. I as well read the article "Introduction to Learning Disabilities" (2007) and found it very interesting. Similar to what you said it is important to understand our students difficulties, it is also important to be able to teach them and find different ways for them to learn and hopefully understand the material that is being taught. Everyone learns differently and learns at their own pace, so if that is the case than we as educators need to keep that in mind and help these individuals learn the material the way they feel if most beneficial.

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Meredith Chen

7/23/2016 08:25:33 am

In researching specific learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorder, and social communication disorder, I found how complex these disabilities are in diagnosis. I was very interested in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as the school I will be interning at has a reputable autism program. Reading about the DSM-4 and the DSM-5 provided me with a lot of information, particularly about what disabilities and behaviors fall under ASD, and the politics behind the diagnosis of ASD. Recently, social communication disorder (SCD) has become its own diagnosis. The two diagnoses share certain traits such as difficulty with social situations and following social-communication rules. Yet the underlying differentiator is that “to receive a diagnosis of ASD under DSM-5, one must also have the repetitive behaviors and/or restricted interests typical of autism” (Autism Speaks). While these two diagnoses are similar, they have recently been found to be independent disabilities. Many of the articles I read mentioned that little is known about what therapies, treatments, and strategies would help SCD in particular, as it is so new. However, what is known is similar to those with ASD, people with SCD will certainly benefit from social communication therapies.

Something that I often forget is that children with autism grow to be adults one day. Maybe it is because in the elementary school setting, we mostly only encounter students with this diagnosis. However, those young students become older ones who one day may or may not go on to receive higher education, but will certainly become adults. I watched Chris Varney’s TEDx Talk on his experience growing up with autism, and realized that although he and his mother faced many difficulties during his childhood with his diagnosis, he grew to become a very accomplished and successful. I think this is something we need to keep in mind. Although we work with young children who require support for ASD, they can grow to achieve independence and success, which of course varies depending on where they fall on the spectrum.

Thinking about Joe, I am still wondering if he is on the spectrum. I feel that he may have ASD due to his socialization difficulties (not making eye-contact and feeling challenged by social interactions) and his repetitive behavior of tapping with his hands. After researching these disabilities, I feel that Joe may have ASD or SCD.

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Becca Siegel

7/24/2016 03:33:57 pm

I really like the point you make here about thinking about these children as adults. We focus so much on how to help them get to adulthood and then some of them are left to fend for themselves. Some are successful in life, but not all are. It is important to consider how we can teach children with specific learning disabilities skills for life as they grow older and perhaps specific ways they can cope and manage life around them.

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Jen Whitman

7/24/2016 03:41:23 pm

I think you make a very important point about the fact that our young students with ASD grow up to be adults, whether or not we have done our best to prepare them for what lies ahead. So many people are capable of doing great things despite, or because of, their ASD and what they have to contribute to society can be incredibly meaningful and often very valuable. If we as teachers nurture our students with ASD to the best of our ability, they will be able to live meaningful lives and contribute to society in ways that other people who do not have ASD are not capable of contributing.

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Dana Moody

7/25/2016 09:34:59 am

"When you have met one autistic individual, you have met one autistic individual." This is one of my favorite quotes, because as a person who is hoping to work with individuals on the autism spectrum one day, but because there is no autistic person alike. They all have their own coping mechanisms to deal with stressful situations, they all learn at their own pace, and they all have varying levels of autism. An article I read for one of my other classes talked about a young man who had a fascination with Disney. This young man had very little verbal skills and his family did so much to try and get him to speak, but with his autism it was not happening. His speech did not appear until him and his family sat down to watch a disney movie together. From that point on if his family wanted him to talk or if he wanted to say something, there was always a reaction to Disney. For him, this was his way of being able to speak, and a comfortable way of doing it that was familiar to him.
I think that many times people forget that autistic individuals grow up to be adults, and then what? We as educators need to support them in the best way possible while they are in school or receiving services so that when they do enter the adult world their will be transition services their to support them.

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Nicole Snyder

7/26/2016 11:26:25 am

I also saw signs of possible autism in Joe. One major observation about Joe which made me believe otherwise was in one of the reports when we saw him show empathy and apologize to someone when he accidentally hurt them. That level of emotion would be difficult for someone on the spectrum. I think your idea of Joe having ASD or SCD may be correct and interested in learning more.

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Troy E Sargent

8/3/2016 01:34:32 pm

Even though much of Joe's issues seem due to his upbringing, I have the same questions as to if and where he could land on the autism spectrum. Because there is so much focus on developmental delay, we could be missing another diagnosis that would be present without his environmental factors.

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Becca Siegel

7/24/2016 03:29:43 pm

In researching this week’s topic, I found myself learning a lot more than I thought I would about specific learning disabilities. I knew the clinical diagnosis for many of these disorders and could probably rattle off their symptoms and why these people are different; then I realized I forgot to think about the actually people who are affected by these disorders and how they affect them. Every time I watched a different video about what it was like to have a specific learning disability I kept thinking, “Wow, I’ve never thought about it like that” or “I never even considered that a person with this disability would struggle with that.” This material really helped me remember that people with specific learning disabilities are people first which sounds silly, but is easy to forget when you get too focused on what is “wrong” with them.
I loved watching the BBC video “Me and My Autism” because it showed such a wide range of children with autism and all of their unique struggles and gifts. Though each child had the same disorder not one of them was alike which I think is such an important thing to remember. When working with children who have various disabilities and disorders it easy to think of them as all the same and to assume the same techniques will work for them all. This video is an excellent example of that could not be farther from the truth because within one family both of the children have autism and yet one is non-verbal and one is the narrator. This also highlights another important point which is that sometimes I feel as though we are a society who is quick to assign labels and disorders without necessary considering the person as a whole.
Joe, I think, is a prime example of this issue. Since the first video we saw of him I have thought Joe suffers from Autism. From his tapping compulsion, his obsession with the MBTA, and his inability to interact with peers I was convinced that this is what he had. I kept forgetting to consider that he had never been taught to socialize with anyone other than his mother and the delivery man. Perhaps he was never given opportunities to expand his interests to things other than the MBTA because of his limited exposure to the world. I am guilty of wanting to immediately diagnose him without considering all the possibilities or all that he was capable of if he had typical exposure to the world. As we see more and more videos of Joe and hear more stories I do not necessarily think I am right anymore. I do not really know what disorders Joe may have or if is all things that he just needs exposure to and practice with. I am very interested to see what Joe’s final IEP looks like in the end and what specific learning disorder is listed.

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Jen Whitman

7/24/2016 03:47:40 pm

I think you make a very good point that we often forget to think about the fact that the children we work with are more than just their disabilities. Their disabilities are just one part of who they are and just like all other children, they have many other factors and interests that make up their personalities. Even though many children have autism, that is only one of the many dimensions of who each of those children are and there is no reason to assume that they have anything else in common without actually getting to know them first, which is so integral to being able to support each of them to the best of our ability.

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Brianne Syring

7/25/2016 12:31:51 pm

I agree with you on the fact that sometimes I think that people jump to label someone just so they have that label. People do not take into account all aspects of their lives and do not realize that every case is different.

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Dana Moody

7/24/2016 05:05:57 pm

As a individual with specific learning disabilities I thought I had a pretty good idea about what learning disabilities are and how students with learning disabilities get the help they need in an academic setting, but I was proven wrong. There is so much more information out there on specific learning disabilities that I didn't know about.

When asked to research and write about something new that I learned and apply the new information to what we already know about Joe and to my teaching or learning I immediately thought about all of the children I will encounter that have learning disabilities or will be diagnosed with learning disabilities and all of the different ways I can help them with their academics and day to day routines.

One piece of information I learned about was personalized Learning: Meeting the Needs of Students with Disabilities. " Students learn at their own pace with structure and support in challenging areas. Learning aligns with interests, needs, and skills, and it takes place in an emerging environment where students gain a better understanding of their strengths." ( National Center For Learning Disabilities, 2016) The chosen definition NCLD used to describe personalized learning states; "students learning experiences- what they learn, how, when, and where they learn it-- are tailored to their individual needs, skills, and interests, and enable them to take ownership of their learning. Although where, when, and how they learn might vary according to their needs, students also develop deep connections to each other, their teachers and other adults." (NCLD, 2016)

I chose this piece of information because it was not only new information to me, but I thought it definitely could apply to Joe. With everything we have learned about Joe so far, having personalized learning could really benefit Joe with socialization with his peers, and teachers, help him to learn through his personal interests, and create relationships with all of the people in his life. Many times in the education setting there is a curriculum that students learn and then are tested on at the end of each unit. From what we have learned this would not be beneficial for Joe because he is new to the school setting, new to all of the different people around him, and could very well be to over whelming for him to do. Instead personalized learning could benefit him by creating relationships through a subject that he has interest in and by that moving forward in his education could be successful.

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Elizabeth Mossop

7/25/2016 05:23:56 am

I am in the same boat as you of being in the category of a learning disability, but did not know the background knowledge of it. It is very interesting topic on learning about all the information that is out there and learning new information about certain learning disabilities. It is great to see that children with learning disabilities learn their place and structure in the classroom. It makes you wonder if you were able to make this adjustment when we were in elementary school.

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Nicole Snyder

7/26/2016 11:23:09 am

it is so important to remember that each individual in our classrooms or that we work with has different needs. They may have the same diagnosis as other students but there individual needs or level of support will most likely be different.

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Brianne Syring

7/25/2016 08:12:49 am

The word “normal” is thrown around a lot when talking about people who have special needs. They are considered not normal compared to everyone else. After watching the video “What I Have Learned From My Autistic Brothers”, I realized that we are always comparing everyone to each other when everyone is different. Faith in the video explained all the things that are extraordinary about her brothers but not everyone sees it as extraordinary. If the world just accepted everyone and viewed everyone as special then the people affected each day will not see themselves as less. They will be able to say that they have skills that others do not have and its ok because everyone is different.

After looking at the all the resources on the different types of disabilities, I have realized that when I become a teacher I have to take this idea that everyone is different and bring it into the classroom. From the beginning of the program here at Wheelock we are told that everyone learns differently. When you think about that you think about all the kids in the class and how some students learn better with visual supports while others need print. The same goes to students with disabilities. All students learn differently and it will be our jobs as educators to make sure that everyone is learning. While watching the video “Forget What You Know”, Jacob also supports the idea that everyone learns differently. In his case, everyone labeled him as autistic and then just swept him under the rug saying that he was not going to learn or be a productive student. But thankfully Jacob proved them wrong. He was not learning like the other kids but he was learning in his own way and about more complex things. If we put everyone under a category like they did with Jacob we would not educate these students the way we should. We put them in those categories and just forget that everyone including students with disabilities learn differently.

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Colleen Talbot

8/3/2016 07:07:09 am

I agree that not all students learn in the same ways regardless of abilities and disabilities. I enjoyed watching the video "Forget What You Know", and I agree with Jacob that regardless of these so-called labels that people place on us, we are much more than that and those labels do not identify the entire person being put under them. Autism has not stopped Jacob from learning, but it just shows that he learns in different ways, and as educators we need to find the ways that will help students to learn their way.

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8/3/2016 01:42:12 pm

"Everyone labeled him as autistic and then just swept him under the rug saying that he was not going to learn or be a productive student." Unfortunately, students who learn outside the "normal" parameters are often disregarded. I think much of this is perpetuated by the value we place on "normal" and the stigmatization placed on learners who think and interpret information differently.

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Nicole Snyder

7/26/2016 11:19:43 am

I chose to focus my research this week on communication disorders. when thinking about Joe communication seems to be one of the biggest struggles he has in school. He never had an opportunity to build communication skills with peers. It has become clear observing Joe that he has relevant thoughts and has an understanding of most of the academics however he cannot communicate what he is thinking. I cannot imagine how frustrating that must be for Joe or any individual with a communication disorder. I did not realize how many different types of communication disorders there are. i also learned that many communication disorders are diagnosed in conjunction with other disorders. giving Joe other ways to communicate until his verbal skills are developed. Making sure to keep his confidence up is key in getting him the help he needs. If he gets too frustrated he may shut down and not progress. There are many tools and strategies in working with someone with a communication disorder to help them learn to communicate but also communicate with others until they gain the skills on their own. Some individuals with a communication disorder may not be mentally able to improve communication skills so tools such as assistive technology tools are key.

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Olivia Pizzi

8/1/2016 12:41:47 pm

After researching these three different disabilities, I learned that I thought I had an understanding of them but have learned they are much more complex than I originally believed. This blog made me realize how important it is to have a complete understanding about a student’s disability so you can accommodate them properly and know how to best support them in your classroom.
In regards to communication disabilities, I have not spent a lot of time before not getting to know the different types. I had definitely never heard of a social communication disorder. This interested me the most. A social communication disorder is when children have difficulty with pragmatics- the unspoken, subtle rules of spoken language that allow people to connect. This was recognized as a diagnosis fairly recently in 2013. I found it interesting that there was debate around it being a sign of autism. Initially when I had read what this disorder was defined as and how the symptoms present itself I was thinking and relating it back to the students I know who have autism.
I wanted to learn more about communication disorders because I felt it related back to the work we have been doing regarding Joe. Joe has a hard time communicating specifically he struggles with articulation. In class we have been able to read the evaluations from the speech and language specialists that have been working with Joe. I feel I now have a really clear understanding of different types of communication disorders and how this greatly impacts Joe. Thankfully with this type of disorder there are so many resources and different specialist available to work with students who struggle with this type of disorder. With a lot of work and persistence students can work to overcome this type of disability.

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Colleen Talbot

8/2/2016 05:39:49 pm

From this week’s blog I feel I learned a great deal of information about dyslexia. I had a general idea prior to reading and watching the video clips about this reading disability, but along with my very basic understandings I also had several misconceptions that were clarified by the information presented. From the article on the Reading Rockets website written by Hudson, High, and Al Otaiba, I learned that dyslexia is neurobiological, which means that the issue is physically located in the brain. These writers also include in the article that there are two ways to determine if someone has dyslexia, which include inability to fluently recognize words in a text by sight as the average reader, and demonstration of difficulties in decoding; people with dyslexia are unable to accurately use letter-sound relationships while understanding the context of what they are reading. From a video clip I watched on this disability, I learned that dyslexia is passed down through the family, and that people with dyslexia has physically larger brains that people without dyslexia, which is really quite interesting. I also learned that for people with dyslexia, certain parts of their brains are working even stronger than others, which impacts their disability but also contributes to their different levels of creativity.

After going through this information I am still curious about at what age dyslexia is usually caught by teachers or other professionals, and in what ways can I modify my lessons to accommodate this learning disability. The information presented in both the article and through the video clip provided me with a much better understanding of this disability along certain ways I could determine if a student may have this disability if previously unknown, but I do continue to have questions and I intend on continuing my research about this disability.

An aspect of teaching someone who has dyslexia that is critical, as it is with all students, is that we as teachers must teach in ways our students will understand best. For a student like Joe who enjoys and has a very good understanding of how to use technology, a lot of his first assignments should be with the use of technology. A wonderful resource I found in this week’s blog is the website Into the Book. This resource allows students to interact with reading materials and complete activities that promote reading comprehension. The instructions are read aloud step-by-step while also written in text on the computer screen, and you have the option to have the instructions repeated back to you, if needed. Along with each step in the instructions is a model for how each step should be done. Next, you have the option of choosing between different story topics for what suits your interest. In several ways, this website would be a great addition to Joe’s curriculum. One aspect of this website that I think might be a little difficult for Joe is that the voice reading aloud on the website can be quite fast at times, and I am unable to find a way to slow down the pace. Because it is read so fast and Joe is still very new to an educational environment, this may cause frustration. All-in-all, I believe this is a great resource for learners.

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Troy E Sargent

8/3/2016 01:26:34 pm

I wanted to focus on misconceptions among English language learners and misconceptions pertaining to language disability. Even with a high degree of SPED knowledge, assessing disabilities and discerning between the two is a difficult task. The field of special education is new to me and I felt clueless as to what Joe's classification of need was, but I'm sure even seasoned veterans would have many hesitations as to his or other’s classification.

In 2002, ELL students were heavily overrepresented in special education programs, which prompted the need for a clearer understanding of the factors that educators must consider prior to referring an ELL student for special education services. As an educator, I can understand how difficult identifying and differentiating between ELL and SPED could be. It is understandable for a teacher to have difficulty discerning between ELL and disability needs and research shows that 80 percent of the referrals to special education are generated from teachers’ concerns over reading problems, which may have lead to an overrepresentation of English language learners in special education classes. If a child us unfamiliar with a language, reading and writing will be inherently difficult. If the child were to be tested in their own native language, they may not exhibit qualities classified as learning disabled.

On the flip side, newer research shows that of all students referred to special education to be at 13.5 percent while the number of ELL students with disabilities account for 9.2 percent. The smaller proportions of ELLs may be that ELLs are under-identified nationally as needing special education services. Often times, ELL students who have a grasp over English oratory skills can be looked over has having reading difficulties. Since the problem doesn’t appear to be related to speech, teachers may default to a learning disability.

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Kat Bonilla

8/11/2016 02:31:29 pm

It is very interesting to re-read information about these three disabilities. I remember that the beginning of my program I was not well informed about what autism and dyslexia really was. I was ignorant because it was not something you talked about in school or taught. Realizing that we have so many students with learning disabilities we should be talking about it more instead of making it seem as if it as a forbidden topic for conversation. The autism video was very moving. A man with dyslexia recognized another dyslexic person whom fought for his rights. I came to find out that there are different types of dyslexia, I was ignorant to believe that that there was just one type of dyslexia.

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Kat Bonilla

8/11/2016 02:37:31 pm

Relating this back to Joe I believe he is having difficulties with reading and writing because he see things different as well. We needed to get to know him better in order to figure out what are the best ways to help him.